Dec
14
Written by:
QCTO Blog
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Written by Finn Ellebaek Nielsen
This blog post describes a few tips on how to handle installations of
multiple QCTO versions on the same Windows client and the same Oracle
instance.
Use Case
Your manager has asked you to check out the latest QCTO beta release
or the brand new QCTO production release and only if you're happy with
it and have tested it with your existing test definitions will it get
installed on your colleagues' desktops too and your repository will be
migrated.
Client Installation
When installing a new version of the QCTO client program on Windows
you may encounter that Windows Installer asks whether you would like to
repair the existing installation or it complains that another version of
the program is already installed. In both cases, your only option is to
uninstall the existing installation through Control Panel.
This happens when Quest hasn't updated the unique ID of the QCTO
Windows Installer package (a GUID) in the new release. This is to be
expected between the beta releases but it has also happened with
production releases in the past.
You can work around this issue by taking a copy of your installation
after you have installed it. Then, if you need to uninstall it in order
to be able to install a newer production/beta version, you simply
uninstall it and use your back to restore the files removed as part of
the uninstall process.
Here is one way of doing exactly that:
- When installing, choose an installation folder name with the
QCTO version number in it, eg "C:\Program Files (x86)\Quest
Software\Quest Code Tester for Oracle 2.0.0 Beta 4" (on Windows 64-bit)
or "C:\Program Files\Quest Software\Quest Code Tester for Oracle 1.9.1"
(on Windows 32-bit).
- After the installation has finished and if you're using Windows XP or Windows Vista/7 with Classic Start Menu:
- In Windows Explorer, take a copy of the entire installation
folder (append ".bak" to the folder name) to eg "C:\Program Files
(x86)\Quest Software\Quest Code Tester for Oracle 2.0.0 Beta 4.bak" or
"C:\Program Files\Quest Software\Quest Code Tester for Oracle
1.9.1.bak".
- In Start Menu, rename the Start Menu QCTO folder to include
the version number (unfortunately, the installation program doesn't
allow you to specify the name of the folder), eg from "Start Menu |
Programs | Quest Software | Quest Code Tester for Oracle" to "... Quest
Code Tester for Oracle 1.9.1". This can be done by right clicking the
folder through Start Menu and selecting "Rename". The menu folder is
called "Quest Code Tester for Oracle - BETA" for the beta versions.
- In Start Menu, create a folder called "Start Menu | Programs
| Quest Software | Quest Code Tester for Oracle Backup". Copy the QCTO
folder into this new folder by dragging the folder while clicking on the
right mouse button and selecting "Copy here" from the context menu.
- After the installation has finished and if you're on Windows Vista/7 using the new Start Menu:
- In Windows Explorer, take a copy of the entire installation
folder to eg "C:\Program Files (x86)\Quest Software\Quest Code Tester
for Oracle 2.0.0 Beta 4.bak" or "C:\Program Files\Quest Software\Quest
Code Tester for Oracle 1.9.1.bak".
- Microsoft has changed the security mechanisms around Start
Menu so you need to take ownership of the %ALLUSERSPROFILE% folder,
typically "C:\Users\All Users". Please refer to this tip for a description on how to do so.
- Rename the Start Menu folder by issuing the following in a
Command Prompt (change version numbers according to your preference and
please note that the menu folder is called "Quest Code Tester for Oracle
- BETA" for the beta versions):
cd "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Quest Software"
rename "Quest Code Tester for Oracle" "Quest Code Tester for Oracle 1.9.1"
- Make a backup copy of the Start Menu folder by issuing the
following in a Command Prompt (change version numbers according to your
preference):
cd "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Quest Software"
xcopy /i /e "Quest Code Tester for Oracle 1.9.1" "Quest Code Tester for Oracle Backup\Quest Code Tester for Oracle 1.9.1"
Remember that if you make changes to any of the QCTO files installed
(eg my_codetester_template.pkg or my_codetester_example.pkg), you'll
need to take a fresh copy of these files too. In general, it's
recommended to move those files out of the QCTO installation folder
structure to prevent this from happening.
Client and Repository Version Synchronization
The version of the QCTO program installed on your Windows client must
be compatible with the version of the QCTO repository that you connect
to. So a newer version of the client program will not work with an older
version of the repository and vice versa.
For this reason, you need to install a new repository when installing
a new client version and it's a good idea to name the QCTO repository
after the version, such as QCTO191 for the 1.9.1 release or QCTO200B4
for the 2.0.0 Beta 4 release.
I assume that you're using QCTO with the so-called "Shared Repository" installation option, in which:
- The QCTO repository is stored in a separate schema.
- The generated test programs are owned by this schema.
- The schema is shared by multiple developers.
- The programs under test are residing in their original schemas (different from the QCTO repository schema).
Multiple Versions
Adopting the recommended naming of the schemas used for the QCTO
repository will enable you to try out new releases without disrupting
your colleagues. Just remember to connect to the correct schema from the
client program, import your test definitions and you're ready to roll.
Using Expired Beta Versions
You can continue to use expired beta versions if you need to verify
behavior in a previous beta version. This is achieved by changing the
date of your system clock. Obviously this is not advisable to do in a
production client, so I suggest you do this in a controlled environment,
such as a Virtual Machine.